Nothing Beats Local PR

In the increasingly competitive world of home care, most agency owners and executives are finding it more challenging to stand out from the crowd. But some agencies are finding a solution – there’s nothing like a little good local PR to help keep an agency top of mind in the community. Plus, that local press creates a “3rd party endorsement” that may be passed along to people who are not local, but who have parents or grandparents with needs in the locality.
Barth Holohan and Misty Delegato are two home care agency owners who are successfully building their businesses despite a challenging economy. Both are members of a multi-faceted monthly marketing program, MOST, designed specifically for the home care and home health industries. Holohan and Delegato have each had particular success recently with one component of the program, the monthly press releases. When tailored to meet the specific needs of an individual MOST member, these themed press releases have generated valuable press coverage from the targeted local media outlets.
Holohan can attest to those results. He recently appeared on a popular morning news program on NewsChannel Five in St. Louis, MO, where his home care agency, Continuum, is located. As a result of his MOST press release, Holohan was tapped as an expert source to speak on the topic of elder abuse. “The feedback has been exceptional,” said Holohan, who has been a member of MOST for nearly two years and considers the program a key component of his company’s success.
“We are becoming more known for our resources and expertise in the industry,” Holohan said. “We are trying to position ourselves as a one-stop shop for all senior needs and issues and utilizing the MOST program is helping us achieve this goal.”

Holohan’s recent PR success is only the beginning. His initial appearance on the news program went so well that the news channel asked to feature him on a regular basis. Talk about PR longevity!

Misty Delegato, another recent beneficiary of the MOST press releases, whose agency, Relevar Home Care, competes against a number of established agencies in the volatile Detroit market, was thrilled to be featured as an expert on elder abuse in a recent article in the Macomb Daily, a local newspaper that circulates within Relevar’s service area.
“I knew little about the importance of PR when I started the MOST program,” Delegato admitted, but after talking with Merrily Orsini about how to work with the press, she decided to give it a try, and was thrilled that it worked on her first try. “Within a week of sending out the press release, I got a call from the managing editor at the local paper in the county we serve. He told me he was doing an article on elder abuse and asked if I could be quoted in the article as an expert.”
The article has really helped establish Relevar as a leader within the local home care industry, and Delegato couldn’t be happier. “I absolutely plan to keep doing what I’m doing with the MOST program,” she said, including ongoing PR efforts. “The most important thing in marketing is that you have to be consistent, and MOST provides the products to reach your goals of staying on the radar screens of our growing list of referral sources.”
“Part of that is networking with the media,” she added. “One media contact could potentially give you a ton of foot traffic. That’s definitely an added benefit to our marketing efforts.”
For more information about how the MOST program can help create positive press for your home care business, visit www.most4yourmarketing.com. While there, sign up for the next free Webinar to see how this robust turnkey marketing program can position your agency as an expert in your local market.